A collection of thoughts, ideas, and opinions independently written by members of the MSU community and curated by MSU Libraries

The Opioid Crisis has been a major development in American public health alongside the recent proliferation of pain medication prescriptions. Indeed, there has been a gradual proliferation in drug overdose deaths. As a result, state governments across the United States including Michigan have designed policy programs like limiting the initial prescription of opioids for acute …

In addition to sales tax, products like alcohol, tobacco, and motor fuel can be taxed by state governments as an additional source of revenue. Alcohol is typically divided into subcategories for the purpose of taxation: spirits, wine, and alcohol. This blog post will attempt to understand if ideology has any impact on taxes of these …

Despite increased polarization among the American people (link is external) and the US Congress (link is external) during the Obama administration, the Legislatures in Midwestern swing states like Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Michigan featured relatively stable levels of polarization within the chambers of both the House and the Senate. These measures focus on the average polarization …

During the 2016 presidential campaign, President-Elect Donald Trump focused on returning manufacturing jobs to the United States from other countries like China and Mexico. While there was evidence of the success Trump’s rhetoric among Rust Belt swing state voters (link is external), including his sweep of Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Michigan, the potential for a true …

Despite Obama’s victories in Michigan during both election cycles, the state has remained a valuable swing state during the 2016 election featuring campaign stops from both Donald Trump (link is external) and Hillary Clinton (link is external). Even though Trump has made campaign stops and dedicated significant financial resources the latest polling numbers show the …